Tyrell Ford has certainly earned the right to thump his chest with pride and boastfully declare his arrival to the nation.
Yes, over the course of this season — and particularly in the last few weeks — the Winnipeg Blue Bombers homegrown cornerback has established himself as not just a reliable starter in a stingy defensive unit but has emerged as a bona fide Canadian Football League star.
The 26-year-old Waterloo product has interceptions in his last two games and now not only leads the team with four, but is now tied for second in the league with Demerio Houston of Calgary — just two back of Saskatchewan’s Rolan Milligan, Jr.
Earlier this week he was singled out for his work in Sunday’s 20-11 win over the B.C. Lions by the folks at Pro Football Focus for the highest grade by any CFL defender in Week 11.
Yet there he was after Wednesday’s closed-to-the-media practice session one of the last to emerge from team meetings and seemingly wanting to violently push away any spotlight that might be aimed at him.
“We’re playing really well right now,” he began, stressing the ‘We’ part of ‘we’re’ in a conversation with bluebombers.com. “We’ve got a really good gameplan and everybody’s doing their job.”
Asked specifically about his own game, he shrugged and added, “I just try to make plays when they come my way. It’s nothing too crazy.”
We paused for a moment here before yours truly grinned and said, “this is the part of the interview where you don’t have to be so humble, you know.”
Ford, sticking to his own script, smiled and offered only, “I’m kinda feeling sick right now. Maybe I’m being humble because I just want to focus on getting healthy for the game on Friday.”
Fair enough. Let us suggest then that, coupled with the inside veteran presence of Deatrick Nichols, Brandon Alexander and Evan Holm, Ford and CFL rookie Terrell Bonds have been critical in helping turn the Blue Bombers secondary into a unit now widely being hailed as the league’s best.
Both have been tested since the first snap in the season-opener against the Montreal Alouettes and as the year has unfolded continue to dare opposing QBs to throw in their directions.
“Let’s start with the obvious: he’s as good an athlete as there will be out there,” said Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. “His growing as far as his football I.Q. and I think he had good football I.Q. but he’s still, on a very regular basis, learning more and more. He’s extremely coachable. He’s listening not only to J.Y. (defensive coordinator Jordan Younger) but out on the field the communication and making sure he’s staying focussed on the task at hand and what he’s being asked to do.
“He’s soaking up everything he can soak up.”
That’s not just a this-year thing, either. Ford dressed for all 18 games and the West Final and 2022 Grey Cup in his rookie year after being selected by the Blue Bombers 13th overall in the CFL Draft that spring. His athleticism had already drawn NFL interest as a rookie as he had workouts with the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers before coming to Winnipeg, and after the ’22 season landed a deal with the Green Bay Packers before being among their final cuts last year.
Recommitting to the Blue Bombers this winter, Ford spent a good chunk of the offseason working with his twin brother Tre — the exciting QB talent with the Edmonton Elks — to prep him for this year, knowing a starting cornerback job was his for the taking.
It helped grow his confidence, too.
“I’ve become a lot more comfortable with our playbook and our gameplan this year,” said Ford. “Once that happened, the game seems easier for me.
“I had a really good offseason because I was with my brother a lot more learning offensive concepts and so knowing what to expect helped make things easier, too. I was running a lot of receiver reps for him and that helped me. I picked up little things along the way.
“As far as confidence, if you’re not confident you probably can’t play the position. Every time I go out there, I feel like I have a really good chance to succeed — and if the ball’s there, I feel like it’s thrown to me so I might as well catch it.
“I did drop one so far this year, but that’s OK — four catches (interceptions) and one drop… that’s not bad.”
FYI: Wednesday’s practice session was closed, but the daily injury report indicates LB Adam Bighill did not participate and is listed as doubtful for Friday’s home date with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Asked if Bighill — who was injured in the win over B.C. — will play this week, O’Shea said simply, “We’ll see. Short week. He doesn’t need to practice, but we’ll see.”
O’Shea on how quickly Chris Jones could make an impact as a defensive consultant in Hamilton after Mark Washington was relieved of his defensive coordinator duties:
“Immediately. He’s a good coach. He’s good at getting guys to compete and play hard. He’s got some things he likes to do; whether or not he can get that implemented, I’m pretty sure he can. I don’t know if defensive football is as tough to implement as offensive football so I’m sure he can get things done very quickly.
“He certainly will have a group that’s out there that’s motivated to play.”